Loom counter



J. M. DAVIS LOOM COUNTER May 17- 0/ a0 l im 4 f 1 E Z. Ov 7 .n n Z1 Q /z n. 2f s sco .n m 0 2 Z 0/1 SIIWZ.; cam ,am 56 i wa/ 3a# 5 7 /IJ u 3 M m4, 7.89 J 3 T u s 67 00 4 mi? f/v Ma 1927. y 17 J. M. DAvls Loom COUNTER 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14. 1926 lill ' i Patented May 17, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

JAMES MARION DAVIS, OFNEWBERRAY; SOUV'THCAROLINA.

Application led Januaryl 14, 1926. Serial No. 81,282.

are n the market forl use on looms are of a non-resetting type and are operated by means of yci'n'np'licated and expensive worm l gear mechanism having little `dui`'ab"ility yand presenting many diiiiculties in attachment to or engagement witliloo'in shafts from which they derive their power'. As far as I know, no doublecounter, designed for registering or indicating separate shift services or separate totals and having independent resetting features has been devised. A counterfor f counter constructed 1n accordance with ymy looms has been designed which admits of being set back to zero but in this form of coufnter the shaft of the counter is revolved at a relatively high speed or has a continuous revolution and this makes it of little durability on looms where shaft speeds are normally from 160 to Vabove 200 R. P. M.

@ne of the objects of the present invention isrto provide in connection with a counter of the resetting type, mechanism which will cause the motion of the counter to be inuch slower than is possible where `the counters are driven in synchronism with loom shaft speeds. A,frurtler object is to providea mechanism of this character which is 'extremely siinple and which may be easily installed by simply 40 bolting it on a convenientportion of the loom' frame and'coiinectiiig the actuating lever of the counter to any desired revolviiifr or reciprocating part of the loom or ,f other mechanism. AY further object of the invention is to provide a ydouble counter which ineludes a plurality of sets of relativelyindep'endent dial wheelsea`chvset being capable ofindividual resetting independently of the other set and provide manually lshiftableY means whereby either set ymay be driven from a single actuating shaft', thus permitting the counters to indicate the amount' turned out by two shifts ble lemployers to know machine is. .beind oper .niet has 'etat-ing mechanism;

l ..jieaaiea einen the outsince the counter has been reset and thus, indicate at all times the exact individual production of all machines and the comparative production lof two shifts of operators.

A. still further obj ect is to-provide a dou-I ble counter embodying a plurality of sets of relatively independent dial wheels, eachy set being capable of independent resetting and providing means whereby both sets of dial wheels may be operated simultaneously at different, speeds so that the counters will shm'v,IV on one set, the production of the machine to which the counter is attached in yards,` picks, revolutions or otherwise, and on the other setthe amount yof money, for

instance', earned by the maehine during any period.

" Other objects' will appear in the @me of the following description. V Y

My invention is illustrated in the aecoin- Y vpanying drawings' wherein: l

Figurel is an end elevation of a loom invention lFigure 2 isa front elevation thereof, the housing of the 'counter being in section;

Yli`igu`1"e` 3 is a top plan view of the struostruction shown in igures 2 and 3, the pins 2'9 being' in section;

Figure'- 5 is a like view of Figure 4,' but showing the pawl raised by the member over which 'the pawl rides;

Figure 6 is a. fragmentary top plan view showing amodifie'd arrangement of the` op# Referring to `hese drawings it lwill Vbe seen that thebase of the machine comprises a bia-se platefl() having upwardly extending supporting walls 11, 12 and 13 extendin' longi- .tudinallyan'd si'ipportin'g bearings. oi'int- .ed in ,all three of these walls is a vpriinaiy or vactuating shaft 14, this shaft preferably extending @ai was Opposite ends by'enu crank or lever 15 may be attache'dto either 4end of the shaft to oscillate therewith.

vthe walls v11 and 13 so thatr an actuating which, as illustrated, is carried by a tubular hub 21 ofthe ratchet wheel 22 and the ratchet wheel 22 and the pinion 2O rotate loosely upon the shaft 14 but are shiftable longitudinally upon the shaft 14 to therebyA carry the .pinion 2O into engagement with the wheel 18 or with the gear wheel 19 as desired. This is accomplished by means ot a shifting fork 23 which extends on each side of the ratchet wheel 22 and has a button 24 which extends outward to the front of the machine whereby the pinion may be shifted into engagement with either of the gear wheels 18 or 19.

Mounted upon the shaft 14 for movement therewith, is an arm 25 which vhas at its end an outwardly projecting pin 26 and mounted upon this pin is a pawl 27, this pawl having a width greater than the width of the ratchet wheel 22 so that though the ratchet wheel be shifted to carry the pinion 20 into engagement with either gear wheel 18 or 19, yet the pawlA 27 will be at all times in engagement with the ratchet wheel 22.

Extending transversely across the machine inward yof the arm4 25 is the pawl guard 28 which is mounted upon pins 29 projecting from thewall 11. rllhis pawl guardconr prises a plate, the upper edge of which is so formed that the pawl 27 rests at all times against the upper edge of the pawl guard but prevents the. pawl from engaging with the ratchet wheel except during a certain portion of the travel of the pawl. To this end the upper surface of the pawl guard isv formed with a medially disposed upwardly rounded portion 30 and towards the front ofthe machine and at the end of this rounded portion with a slight projection or stop 31, the upper face of which .is slightly inclined upward. As the pawl moves forward it will keep in contact with a tooth of the ratchet wheel. until the forward edge of the pawlstrikes this projection 31 and on further movement the pawl will ride up the inclined face of the projection 31 and oli of the ratchet tooth with which the pawl has been engaged. lt will be obvious now that as the shaft 14 is oscillated by connecting the arm 15 to any suitable part of the loom,

Vthe ratchet wheel, of course, and the pinion 2O lwill be given a step by step movement of rotation in one direction and this will be transmitted to one or the other of the gearwheels 18 or 19 as the case may be, and thus one or the other of the sets of indicating dials or counting dials mounted upon the shaft section or coasting with the shaft sections 16 and 17, will be operated.

I do not wish to be limited to any particularl counting mechanisml or registering mechanism except in so far as each set or counting mechanism must be capable of beying reset independently of the other set of counting mechanism. Each set of counting mechanism is the same as the other set and, therefore, description of one will apply to the other. For instance, on the shaft section 16 there is mounted a dislr32 having in its periphery a notch 38. Mounted for rotation around the same axis are a plurality of counting wheels 34 each having peripherally disposed numbers, and each counting wheel on one side is formed with a gear wheel 35 and on the other side with a radial notch 36. Extending parallel to the axis of the counting wheels 34 is a shaft 37 carrying upon it a plurality of Vpinions 38, certain or" the teeth of each pinionv being transversely elongated so as to engage with the teeth of wheel 85 and also to. be engaged by the notch 36 of the preceding dial, the first pinion of the series engaging the gear teeth of that wheel 35 and also being adapted to be engaged by the notch 33 of the dish 32. Thus it will be obvious that when the dish 32 has made one revolution it will shift the corresponding pinion 38 one step and this will shift the first dial wheel. of the series one step and then when the first dial wheel of the series has made a complete revolution, the notch 86 will engage with the nei-1t succeeding pinion 38 and rotate that one step to cause a one step revolution of the next succeeding dial and soon.

In order to prevent reverse motion of the ratchet wheel I provide a spring pawl 39, illustrated as mounted upon the base and engaging said ratchet wheel.v rllhis pawl may be made wide enough to engage the ratchet wheel in either of its two positions.

Attention is called to the fact that as shown in Figures 4 and 5 the pawlrg'uard 28 not only prevents the pawl .27 from continning` in engagement with a tooth of the ratchet wheel 22 on its forward. 'movement beyond a predetermined. point but that the rear end of the pawl guard constitutes a stop against which the pin 26 strikes when the arm 25 is moved back a predetermined distance, ythus the arm 25 may, be given. a stroke ust equal to one tooth of the ratchet wheel 22 or .may be given a. stroke greater than this without, however, actuating the ratchet wheel 22 more than one step on an oscillation ofthe arm, This permits this device to be applied te machines in which the operating member to which the lever 15 is connected to have different strokes without, however, causing more than al one step movement of the ratchet wheel. 22.

In Figure 6 l have illustrated construction which, in most respects is the same as that shownin Figures 2 and 3, except for the fact that the actuating pinion 1s in en- .gagement with both Ydial wheel carrying ratchet wheel 22a. The gear wheel 18a is relatively large and the gear wheel 19SL is relatively small, thus causing the counting dials on the shaft i6A to be driven at a slower speed than the dials on the shaft 17a. Thus these shafts will be driven at diiferent ratios.

The mechanism for driving the ratchet wheel 22a is the same as the mechanism previously described and comprises the arm 25 mounted upon the shaft 14a, theV pawl 27 on the arm and the pawl guard 28. It will be f seen that with this mechanism oscillations given to the shaft 14 will be transmitted to the ratchet wheel 22a and thus 'to vthe pini-on 20*L andthe gear Wheels 18a and 19a will be given a step by step movement in one direction which will cause the step by step advance of' the dials 34 of the two series of registering devices. y y y I/vhile I do not wish to be limited to any specific mechanism for resetting the dial wheels I have illustrated a construction wherein the dial wheels of each set are reset to zero by means of a key inserted into a keyhole t0 in an arbor al. This is a'common and well known resetting means such as is found in a large number of different counting mechanisms and requires no particular description.

I claim 1. A mechanism of the character described including an actuating rock shaft, a ratchet l wheel loosely mounted thereon, an arm car- 1 ried and oscillated by the actuating shaft and having a pawl engaging with4 said ratchet wheel and a bar supported in chordal relation to the ratchet wheel and having its outer edge face outwardly curved, said edge face at one end of the bar being extended beyond the ratchet teeth and at the other end of the bar being disposed. inward of the ratchet teeth, and then extending beyond the ratchet teeth, the pawl traveling over said curved face of the bar whereby to "i hold the pawl from engagement with the ratchet teeth for the greater portion of its stroke, then permit the engagement of the 2. In a mechanism of the character described. a pair of shafts, eachshaft having a gear wheel', the gear wheels being disposed out of alignment with each other, a ratchet ywheel carrying a vpinion and shiftable to carry the pinion into engagement with either of the gear wheels, means for shifting the pinion and ratchet wheel into such engagement and an oscillatable arm having a pawl engaging the ratchet wheel, the pawl having a width. greater than the range of movement of the ratchet wheel whereby the pawl may engage the ratchet wheel in either position thereof.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, a pair of shafts, each having agear wheel. an operating shaft having means whereby it may be oscillated, a ratchet Wheel and a pinion together slidably mounted upon the voperating shaft to thereby carry the pinion into engagement Withone or the other of the gear wheels, means on the operating shaft for giving a step by step motion to the ratchet vwheel inV either of its positions, and a shifting device operatively engagedwith t-he ratchet Wheel and pinion, and having a manipulating member connected thereto.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

- JAMES MARION DAVIS. 

